The invention relates to a method for dividing into individual sausages a continuous sausage strand exiting from a sausage filling machine, wherein said sausage strand is rotated about its longitudinal axis and constricted at preselected spaced locations by means of revolving constrictor elements so as to be divided into individual sausages the sausages are subsequently prevented from being rotated while being conveyed further at a preselected conveying speed. It also relates to an to apparatus for dividing into individual sausages a continuous sausage strand exiting from a sausage filling machine, comprising a device for rotating said sausage strand, a divider mechanism including two constrictor elements revolving in opposite directions, and a conveyor device for further conveying the thus divided sausages while preventing them from being rotated.
A known apparatus of this type is provided with an electric motor operatively connected by a belt transmission to a filler pump producing the continuous sausage strand, and additionally operable to drive the conveyor device by way of a variable-speed belt transmission. The conveyor device comprises two endless chains disposed on opposite sides of the sausage strand and carrying bar members for gripping the sausages and divider elements for constricting the sausage strand.
Disposed upstream of this conveyor device is a chuck mechanism operable to rotate the sausage strand and driven by the variable-speed belt transmission of the conveyor device.
In this known apparatus the advancing speed of the sausage strand is determined by the filler pump which is driven at a constant speed. The sausage strand is then rotated by the continuous revolving chuck mechanism. Downstream of the chuck mechanism, the divider elements of the endless chains are brought into mutual engagement to thereby constrict the sausage strand, resulting in the strand being twisted at this location, because the bar members of the endless chains prevent the downstream section of the sausage strand from being rotated
The weight of the sausages, i.e. the size of the portions can be slightly varied by varying the revolving speed of the endless chains relative to the operating speed of the filler pump by means of the variable-speed belt transmission. The length of the sausages can by contrast only be varied by exchanging the endless chains with other ones on which the restrictor elements are mounted at a different spacing.
This known apparatus thus permits the apportioned size of the sausages to be varied only within a very restricted range. This requires the revolving speed of the endless chains to be additionally varied, so that the advancing speed of the sausage strand produced by the filler pump can no longer be properly synchronized with the conveying speed of the endless chains. Although this known apparatus has been improved (U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,005) by an adjustable mounting of the constrictor elements on the endless chains, the adjustment of the constrictor elements is onerous and time-consuming and permits the length of the sausages to be only varied by discrete steps.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus permitting the apportioned size and length of the sausages to be varied within a wide range and permitting the desired portion sizes and lengths to be adjusted in a readily reproducible manner.